Man admits sexually assaulting teen

A 43-year-old South Whitehall Township man has admitted sexually assaulting a teenage girl and faces up to 20 years in prison.

William Desh pleaded guilty last week to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under age 16, a felony.

Desh is scheduled to be sentenced in November by Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg.

Desh went to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest on Aug. 30, 2009, and told the staff he needed mental health treatment because he had been sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, according to court records.

The girl's mother later told police she caught Desh molesting the girl on that same day, sparking his visit to the hospital.

Desh's statement to hospital personnel spawned an investigation by Lehigh County detectives and South Whitehall Township police, and in October Desh was slapped with more than two dozen charges.

Desh told a detective his behavior had been going on for six to eight months, but the victim told police the sexual contact started in the summer of 2006, when he exposed himself and fondled her. Similar incidents happened in 2007, she said.

Desh has been free on $100,000 bail since his arrest on Oct. 9, according to court records.